


Two Opposite Sides

by Kaedesmith



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Good Omens Fusion, Anxious Aziraphale (Good Omens), Beelzebub is Crowley's mother, F/M, Fraternising, Gabriel is Aziraphale's Father, Going to university, Kids are more mature then the adults, M/M, Teenage Aziraphale, Teenage Crowley (Good Omens), living on earth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-11-24 10:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20906090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaedesmith/pseuds/Kaedesmith
Summary: Beelzebub's son Crowley has just gone to university and she's dealing with it fine, she hopes. There he meets a shy boy called Aziraphale and promptly becomes infatuated. The same can't exactly be said for the first time Beelzebub meets Aziraphales father, Gabriel.





	1. Introductions

Bee couldn’t believe Crowley was actually gone. She was 3 gins deep and the house was too quiet, the podcast in the background somehow making the quiet louder. She knew this day was coming, that didn’t make it any easier. Empty nest they called it. He had been so excited about university and she had been caught up in the excitement too, all the packing and IKEA trips. Now as she stood in the doorway to his room, it barely even seemed like he’d ever been here. There were no posters on the wall, the bookcase was half empty. She had been holding back the tears but now there was no stopping them, she sat in the still room and sobbed, heavily. 

It was so cliche but it felt like only recently he started school, he was too small and innocent! Now he was 18, a grown man and literally out in the world on his own. She hoped that she has provided him with everything he would need, of course he would make mistakes but she knew, she had to know, that he would be okay.

She was drunk enough now that reminiscing seemed like a good idea, looking around his room she could see memories. The terrible paint job that she had done when they first moved here, when he was only 5. The main walls had been painted over a couple of times but the errant blue paint on the ceiling still remained. 

This house had meant everything when she bought it, still did she supposed. When Crowley had been born she has still been working in hell. In fact it was the same year she was promoted to “Lord of the Flies”. A glorified team leader it was with not much more pay and so much more paperwork. She had never planned to work in hell. Yes her parents had done it and she was technically a demon but those things didn’t really matter nowadays. When Heaven and Hell realised they could make more money through commercialising their business, their doors had been pretty much open to anyone who wanted the money and could put up with the management (and she had heard that the management upstairs was much, much worse.). 

Then she had met a man. A man who was also a demon and said he would “get her in” with a great job downstairs. The same man that had disappeared when Crowley was born and she had no desire to track him down. By that time she was earning enough money to put some aside every month, saving up for the day she could take Crowley out of there. Not that it was bad, per se, they had a flat, there was childcare. But it was dank, and cut-throat and she never really felt totally safe. 

Bee’s demon side had been repressed by her parents. They wanted a “better life” for her. She was sent to private school on the surface while they had worked constantly downstairs, to provide for her. As a result she never even knew she was a demon until puberty when things got really weird. She was reprimanded more than once for the random fireballs that would materialise in her hands when she got really mad. Turns out that repressing these gifts doesn’t make them disappear, even the school counsellor could agree with her on that. Instead she’d had to learn to control her powers which would turn out to be useful when she had to teach Crowley to do the same. You see, demons and angels were permitted to be on the surface as long as they didn’t use any angelic or demonic powers. There was a sort of three strikes and you’re out law, out meaning you would be punted upwards or downwards depending on your inclination. Then it was up to them what they did with you. Of course people still used powers, they just tried not to get caught. Bee had decided it was best not to risk it, she definitely didn’t want to end up in the underworld again. So she had taught herself restraint and done the same for Crowley. Not that she wanted him to be ashamed of his origins, in fact he knew everything. But the surface just felt like a better fit for them both, for the future. Of course he had been curious and had went through a similar burst of power in puberty but with some training, and a therapist who specialised in “demons on the surface” they had brought it under control and there had been no unexpected outbursts. That she knew off. She had heard horror stories of humans pressuring demonic kids to show off their powers with disastrous results but she shrugged them off as urban legends. Crowley assured her it had never happened to him, in fact they were very strict in school that there was no discrimination and they weren’t allowed to discuss their backgrounds.

Once when Crowley was young, Bee had to deal with a rather inquisitive mother who somehow found out they were demons and tried to enfriend herself, mostly for the novelty factor. Bee had to brush off questions like “Do you need to eat? Or sleep?” When the question came “Surely you don’t age though, I read online that demons never age, does that mean you’re like a thousand years old or something?” Bee had nearly snapped, she had nearly answered her with the details of all the different species of demons and how only the true descendants from the beginning of time were immortal and that actually Bee was closer to a human and it was pretty ignorant to assume that every species was the same and how would she like it if she were asked personal questions every goddamn weekday at 9am and if she continued to piss her off, Bee would happily lose a strike and show her just how demonic she could be. But she didn’t, she meekly walked away and thought this was a fight for another time, another place. Bee replayed the potential verbal fight during every shower for the next 5 months though. 

With university however, there were no such rules. Yes discrimination was still frowned upon but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. People could still ask, could still pressure him into doing things he didn’t really want to. There were no headteachers to protect him, no letters being sent home, no phone calls. She wouldn’t be there.

Her phone beeped with a message, bringing Bee back to the now and a realisation that she should probably go to bed, especially as the Lego Batman clock in Crowley’s old room said 1:25 AM. Her phone glowed with a picture from Crowley - “Settled in, cool room, met some great people already. Gonna crash now, will call you tomorrow. Love you.” The picture showed off his new room, she spotted some old posters and some new furniture. She knew he was going to be alright.

A week's worth of daily phone calls and selfies later, Bee was finally visiting the university. They had a sort of “open-day” where students could show off the facilities and living arrangements to their parents and other loved ones. Of course it was really for the parents, to relay any fears they had about their children living in squalor. She was excited, even though it was only 45 minutes away she hadn’t wanted to disturb Crowley too much and definitely didn’t want to appear to be a clingy mum.

The house was still quiet but it was becoming more familiar, even enjoyable sometimes. She was even thinking about getting a cat. But she was excited to see where Crowley was embarking on a new life, on his own. It had always been just the both of them really, her parents had both passed before he was born and she had no siblings. She had friends, some who had been quite significant in Crowley’s life but mainly it was just the two of them. She hoped she had done enough to prepare him. Luckily her anxiety didn’t have time to set in as she presently arrived at the university and quickly found Crowley. How had he grown in only a week? She knew it wasn’t physically possible but already her son looked more man than ever.

“Hey mum!” He left the group he was chatting with and bounded over to her, almost toppling her with a hug that said he had missed her just as much as she had missed him. She was whisked off on a tour of the university, shown around the classrooms and lecture halls. Investigated the cafeteria and union. Studied the gardens and laboratories to finally be shown the halls of residence.

“I’m in a shared room cos it’s my first year, I’ll get a single room when I’m in year two,” he told her as he opened the door, “my roommate’s ok though.” She was surprised to hear that because it really looked like two very different people lived there. Crowley’s side had heavy metal band posters haphazardly blu tacked, an unmade bed and even black bedclothes (which Crowley had requested specifically when they went shopping, even though they had to visit 5 shops before finding them.) The opposite side however was incredibly clean, cream coloured bedclothes, not a thing out of place and only a framed painting on the wall. The bookcase on that side was already full to bursting whereas Crowley’s bookcase held not only books (untidily) but also a goat skull (they had found it while exploring one holiday and he had been adamant to bring it), many CD’s and at least 3 chocolate bar wrappers. She smiled at the literal yin and yang bedroom and sat down on Crowley’s bed.

“It’s really lovely, I love what you’ve done with the place,” she said half sarcastically. Crowley smiled and sat beside her, “I’m really enjoying it here. I hope the house isn’t too lonely without me.”  
“Of course it is,” she wasn’t going to lie, “but I’ll be fine. And you’ll be fine.” Just as Crowley started to give her another hug, the room door swung open rather rapidly. In the doorway stood a rather stiff, well dressed but looking slightly unimpressed man. Just behind him, stood rather awkwardly was a boy who Bee instantly knew must be Crowley’s “yin” room mate as he was dressed almost entirely in cream and white and looked very 'put together', he even had fine blonde hair. 

The man gestured towards Bee and Crowley half-hugging on the bed, "I hope we're not interrupting something." Bee stood up to meet him with her hand held out, "I'm Crowley's mother, Bee, nice to meet you," she said with no hint of sarcasm at all.

"Oh um yes," he clasped her hand and weakly shook it, "This is my son Aziraphale, my name is Gabriel." Then he turned towards the still awkward looking Aziraphale, "Ok son, thanks for the tour, I really must be going now," and he took off, no hugs, no handshakes, not even a backwards glance. Aziraphale looked after him sadly and Bee felt instant sympathy, she knew how it felt to have parents like that.

Once more she held out her hand, "Aziraphale is it? Lovely name, why don't you come in. Well I suppose it's your room isn't it!" Her slightly embarrassed laugh caught Aziraphale's attention and he smiled back, "oh yes, thank you!" He entered the room and sat stiffly across from Crowley.

She closed the door behind her, sat down on the computer chair and an unsettling wobble told her that somehow Crowley had managed to assembly it slightly wrong. "So how are you enjoying university Aziraphale? I hope my son here isn't causing you much bother!"

Crowley blushed and mouthed "mum" at her while Aziraphale replied, "Oh no, not at all, he's been most helpful. I still wouldn't know my way around here if it wasn't for Crowley." Crowley was growing a darker shade of red and smiling awkwardly. She was wondering how he had managed to be a tour guide when he was surely as clueless as Aziraphale. Not one to want to bathe in awkward teenage feelings, she thought to make her excuses.

"This has been so great Crowley and I'm so proud of you" (now he was maintaining a rather bright scarlet face and looked like he wanted to disappear into himself) "I'm going to go now but let's have lunch next week yeah," he came towards her for a goodbye hug which she suspected was more about hiding his beautiful embarrassment. "I love you mum, call me when you get home,"  
"You stole my line!" She jokingly exclaimed, "nice to meet you Aziraphale. Now you two don't get up to anything I wouldn't do!" Bee closed the door behind her and she hoped neither of them would get a suntan from the bright red glow still emanating from the room, Aziraphale with his pale skin especially! 

As she walked to her car she ruminated on Aziraphale and Gabriel. If he was anything like her father then deep down he loved Aziraphale but would probably never be able to show it and in fact would use misplaced anger instead. She hoped he wasn't, for Aziraphales sake but she recognised much of her young self in him. The stiff posture, the awkward feelings of not knowing how to act around her father and then not being able to shift those feelings even when he was gone.

At that moment both Crowley and Aziraphale were staring at laptop screens in a comfortable silence. Crowley was thinking about Aziraphale and thinking about what he might be thinking about. They had only met a week ago but Crowley already felt stronger feelings for Aziraphale then he ever thought possible. He'd had a girlfriend and boyfriend through school, not at the same time mind you although Crowley's memory suggested there may have been an overlap. They were nothing really, young flings that felt very serious at the time but petered out after a few months. This felt different and he didn't know what to do with it. Should he say something, make a move, change his clothes? 

On moving in day of university, Crowley was running late, of course. He had been dropped off by his mum but insisted she not come in, he didn't know if other parents would be there and really didn't need to make such an uncool move on the first day. He had found his room, with his delivered IKEA packages waiting outside. Inside he found one half of the room already made up, in fact it looked like someone had already been living there for a few days. Well, living there was maybe an overstatement as everything looked very much in its place. As he was just starting to unpack, a boy entered the room. A beautiful boy with fair hair and vintage clothes, almost the total opposite to Crowley's dark hair and dark but oh so fashionable clothes. The boy was flustered,

"Oh hello, you must be my roommate. Lovely. Um, by any chance, you don't know where I'd be able to borrow a laptop do you?"  
"You can use mine, what do you need it for?"  
"The whole semester…"  
"...do you mean you don't have one? I'm sure you can get a loan for that, do you want to go and talk to someone?"  
"No you see I did have one but I, I gave it away,"  
"You gave it away? To who?"  
"Well I was walking through the courtyard, towards here, I wasn't sure where I had got to but I was carrying my laptop and this man approached me, he said he had just started at the university but he was very poor and wasn't able to afford things like a laptop and I sort of just, gave it to him." 

That was the point Crowley fell, maybe not in love but in love-like feelings for this boy he didn't even know the name of. This stupid, compassionate, flustered mess of a boy. He suddenly felt like a knight in shining armour,

"Well let's go get it back!"  
"Oh I'm not sure, I mean I'm not sure I can even remember what he looked like,and I did give it to him willingly."  
"Doesn't matter, come on, my name's Crowley by the way." And he grabbed him by the arm and started to march down the hallway.  
"Aziraphale, nice to meet you," he gasped, trying to keep up with Crowley.

And they did it. They found the laptop. The 'thief' was still in the courtyard, sitting down using the actual laptop, in broad daylight. Crowley wasn't sure who was more stupid in this situation. 

"Crowley I can prove it's my laptop," Aziraphale blurted out as they approached the 'thief', "it has a sticker of Hello Kitty as Catwoman on it."

With some persuading and a light threat of calling someone's parents, the laptop was handed over. 

"Oh thank you, thank you so much!" Aziraphale exclaimed as he threw his arms around Crowley and hugged him. That was the point that Crowley fell in love.


	2. Getting to know you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aziraphale and Crowley get closer, mostly. Gabriel and Beelzebub contemplate a date.

As they walked back to their room, Crowley was trying to hatch a plan to spend more time with Aziraphale. They were approaching the door and he knew he had to say something or the moment would be gone.

"I could take you on a tour!" Crowley blurted out, "of the university, I know it quite well. Only if you're having trouble of course." (A tour? What stupid idea was that, he knew nothing about this place, why would he even agree..)  
"That would be lovely. I actually arrived here a few days ago and found it so huge and overwhelming, having a guide would really help. Thank you."  
For the next few days, Crowley would skip lunch and use a map on his phone to plan a route, sprinkled with a little bit of local knowledge. Then in the evening he would take Aziraphale and tell him the memorised facts and stories about the various buildings. 

One evening took an incredibly romantic turn as they walked down by the river. They were standing side by side watching the birds swooping low to the water, just as the sun was setting. Aziraphale's hand brushed Crowley's. Whether by accident or not, Crowley panicked so hard that he popped the question "do ducks have ears?" to Aziraphale and promptly ruined whatever atmosphere may have been building.

Crowley would never forget about that (and his mum being embarrassing didn't help at all) so he'd given up pursuing Aziraphale, accepted that it probably wouldn't happen and just decided to be a great friend to him instead, which Aziraphale seemed fine with (although Crowley was sure Aziraphale had no idea about his feelings.)

\-----------

Bee was enjoying their weekly lunch catch-ups, Crowley always seemed happy to see her and it was exciting to find out what he had been doing. She would always ask him if he fancied anyone, he would say no. He would ask her if she fancied anyone, she would say no. It was great. 

Crowley was running late this week, he had messaged her blaming a lecture running over so she was enjoying her second coffee of the day. Aziraphale walking into the cafe caught her attention, she watched him scan the room then walk to the opposite wall and sit down across from his father. She watched intently as the two had quite a heated conversation and then Aziraphale stood and stormed out, clearly upset. 

She immediately picked up her phone to text Crowley, "Just saw Aziraphale and his dad have an argument, he looked really upset. Maybe check on him before you come here."

She looked back and saw Gabriel looking sad himself, whatever had been said clearly upset them both. She felt the urge to go over to him, he seemed like a bit of a dick when they first met but she couldn't stand to see someone alone and upset. She walked over, slowly like one would approach a wounded deer,

"Hey Gabriel, I'm Crowley's mum, don't know if you remember me. Do you mind if I sit down?" He waved dismissively at the empty chair which she promptly sat it, only then realising she had left her coffee on the other table. She weighed up the options and reckoned it was better to stay there, maybe the waitress would bring it to her.

"Yeah so um, I don't know what that fight was about but I just wanted to come over and see if you were doing alright."

"It's been like this since his mum left. She was always the buffer zone between us. I don't know how to talk to kids, I try and encourage him but it always comes out wrong. He doesn't even get mad, just walks away. I just want, I just want us to have a good relationship. But maybe it's too late." He had started crying so she offered over her napkin.

"When did his mum leave?"

"He was 12, or 13 I can't quite remember. I worked too much is what she told me, didn't spend enough time with the family. So that's why she had to run away with her tennis coach. Eurgh it's like a shitty soap opera but I'm living it."

"I'm sorry that happened to you both. I mean I've raised Crowley on my own so I can't fully understand what you went through but I know how tough it can be on your own. You know, my dad was like you, always working, always trying to provide for the family. Well my mother was too. And when they tried to be more involved with my life, to absolve them of their own guilt, I pushed them away. I didn't want them when they decided it was time, I wanted it to be on my schedule."

"Then what happened? Did you manage to make a relationship work?"

"No they died, both at the same time. So I never got to have that relationship. Probably not what you wanted to hear right?" He shook his head slightly but he wasn't crying anymore.

"What I'm saying is, maybe it will take a while for Aziraphale to come round. And maybe you need to be more open with him."

"I know, you're right, I know. I just expect him to know that I love him and want the best for him and I get annoyed when he rejects that. Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to unload on you like that."

"It's fine, I mean I'm the one who came over to you. Clearly you needed to talk to someone!" He smiled,

"Yeah, I suppose I did. Oh I should check on Aziraphale," Bee felt a buzz in her pocket. Crowley had texted "Azi doing ok, just pissed off at his dad."

"I think Crowley's got that covered for now," she told him, "how about you buy me lunch for the free advice?"

"Well then it wouldn't be free, would it?" He bought her lunch anyway. It was nice getting to know Gabriel, under his steely exterior was someone trying to be kind and thoughtful, just going about it in the wrong ways. They got cakes to take away and took them to the dorm rooms. Stopping outside the door, they could hear Crowley's and Aziraphale's laughter.

Bee knocked, the laughter stopped and Crowley answered. Shooting a rather dirty look at Gabriel, he smiled at Bee. 

"We brought cake!" She exclaimed rather too excitedly. "I think we should leave Aziraphale and his father to have a little chat."

Crowley took Bee on a small tour around the facilities, rattling off facts about the buildings like he'd memorised them.

"Wow, I had no idea you knew so much about this place!" 

"Oh it's nothing, just picked up some info here and there." He played it cool, there was no way on earth he was going to tell his mother he memorised this stuff to impress a boy.

When they returned to the room, the atmosphere was peaceful, like some past hurt had come to the surface and processed. Gabriel and Aziraphale were both smiling and looked thankful.

Gabriel stood and approached the door, "I really do have to go now but lets catch up next week? I love you Aziraphale." "I love you too dad."  
"Bee can I talk to you in the hallway?" She said quick goodbyes to Crowley and left the room, glad that something positive had happened between Aziraphale and his father.

"Thank you, you really helped me back there in the cafe. I was honest with Aziraphale, I told him I felt that I had failed him and wanted to start again, wanted to be there for him. I know we've got far to go but it's a start. So yeah, what I really wanted to say was will you go to dinner with me?"

She tried to avoid looking too shocked but feared that she had failed. "Oh yeah, sure that would be...nice."

"Great, great! Here's my number, text me your availability." He handed her a piece of paper, he had clearly planned this. Not that she was too upset, he was handsome enough, maybe not normally her type but it had been a long, long time since she was taken on a date.

"Looking forward to it!" He shouted back as he left. She wondered if Aziraphale and Crowley had anything to do with this. Maybe she heard stifled giggling coming from behind the door but maybe she didn't.

\--------------

Crowley abandoned his lecture as soon as he read the message from Bee and started to run towards the dorms. (He may have used some demonic power to run faster than normal but he wasn't really aware of that, at least until he stopped.) Aziraphale was just opening their door, Crowley was coming around the corner too fast and literally crashed into him.  
"Oh Crowley, what a dramatic entrance." He was desperately gasping for breath and now also desperately embarrassed.  
"I'm so sorry," gasp "Aziraphale. My mum" wheeze "messaged me, said you had a" hard inhale "a fight with your dad."  
"Come on dear Crowley, I think you need to sit down." Why did Aziraphale always have to be so damn nice, it infuriated Crowley because it made it impossible to dislike him. But now he mentioned it, he was starting to feel light headed.  
"Thank you, what happened with you dad?"  
"Oh just the usual, he doesn't really care enough to check up with me but expects me to check up on him. It's always his rules and frankly I'm getting sick of it. Even lunch today was his decision, he just told me to be there. But I think maybe he's realised he has less control over me now that I'm here and he's scared."  
"Aziraphale I'm so sorry, what a bastard." Aziraphale scrunched up his nose at that word, Crowley felt bad.  
"Hmm, maybe a strong word. I know he loves me and he is trying, he's just such an arsehole." Crowley's jaw dropped while Aziraphale gave him a knowing smile. And was that a wink?! No, Aziraphale would never wink, would he? They were still staring at each other, Crowley wanted so badly to do something but he felt frozen, never imagining that Aziraphale would make the first move.  
"So um, would you like to hang out and watch some YouTube for a while?" asked  
Aziraphale as he promptly opened his laptop and motioned for Crowley to sit beside him in his bed. He immediately complied. For the next hour they shared their favourite videos with each other.  
"Stop," gasped Crowley, tears running down his face, "it's too much, I need a break!" Aziraphale wiped away his own tears, they had tried to watch a "Try not to laugh" video about parrots and both failed.  
"Here, I have some snacks." Aziraphale started to produce a plethora of all different foodstuffs from his backpack that looked too small to contain them all. But Crowley wasn't going to mention it, he was hungry.  
"Wait, " spluttered Aziraphale with a mouthful of chocolate "did you say your mum told you I had a fight with my dad?"  
"Yeah, she was in the cafe, I was meant to meet her but my lecture ran over. She must have seen you two in there."  
"Hmm, I wonder if it was a coincidence, my dad and your mum being there at the same time. Could you imagine?"  
"Imagine what?" Crowley's imagination was limited at the best of times.  
"Imagine if they got together!"  
"No."  
"No you can't imagine it or no you won't."  
"Both,"  
"Oh come on, I know my dad needs some joy in his life, don't you think your mum would appreciate some company too?"  
"I'm not sure where you're going with this."  
"I'm just saying, maybe they should date."  
"But if they got married, we'd be like, step brothers."  
"I never said anything about them being married. But would you hate me if I suggested it to my dad?"  
I couldn't hate you, thought Crowley. "No, I suppose not. Weird though."  
"Nothing weird about two adults spending some adult time together."  
"Oh no, no, why did you have to make me picture that!" They both burst out laughing and Bee knocked on the door.

\---------------


	3. Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both of our unlikely couples end up on dates. Will they both be successful?

Bee and Gabriel's date was at 8pm tonight, it currently was 6pm and she had already received two messages from Crowley teasing her. Her phone buzzed with another:  
"Please don't marry him mum, I don't want Aziraphale to be my step brother."  
"Is that cause you hate him or cause you like him?"  
His reply didn't come straight away,  
"Enjoy your date mum x"  
Bee couldn't quite work out what Crowley's and Aziraphale's relationship was so far and he wasn't too forthcoming with information. She didn't want to push it though, she knew he would talk to her when he was ready.

Anyway, she had to get ready, she was actually feeling nervous excitement about tonight. It had been a few weeks since she had swapped numbers with Gabriel, she had learned so much about him in such a short time and they had even started flirting. It had been innocent enough but it certainly made her feel more excited about the evening, she even picked out some sexy lingerie that she hadn't worn in years. Now, was she actually going to sleep with her son's roommates father on the first date? She wasn't sure, but it didn't hurt to feel sexy anyway.

They met in the restaurant at 8pm, a lovely Japanese restaurant she had yet to try, he had suggested it. She relayed this thought to Gabriel.

"Oh this is one of my favourite restaurants. It's quite heavenly," he told her.  
"Well I hope it's just hellish enough for me to enjoy it," she replied with a sly smile. He gave her a confused look that she didn't quite understand but thought best to just leave it.

The rest of the evening went well, they had engaging conversation and delicious food. They didn't have too much in common, Gabriel being more into going to the gym and wearing designer clothes whereas Bee liked pizza and still dressed like she did in her 20s. But despite this they still found plenty to talk about and made each other laugh, Gabriel had a surprisingly sarcastic sense of humour which suited Bee just fine.

They were just finishing their dessert and as Bee reached out for her wine glass, Gabriel also reached out and placed his hand on hers.

" I um, just wanted to say thank you for this evening. You really helped me that day in the cafe with Aziraphale and things have been looking up ever since. So yeah, thank you."

"It's my pleasure," she smiled, her hand had clasped his and they were now just holding hands. "But, you know, it doesn't have to end here."

"What do you mean?"   
" You could come back to mine."  
"Oh." He thought about it just long enough to make her regret asking.  
"You don't have to! I was just…"  
"No, sorry I mean yes. It's just been a long time since, well. But yeah, I'd love to."

They settled up and got into a taxi and started smooching like teenagers in the back row of the cinema.

\----------

Crowley half felt bad about winding up his mum but half also still couldn't believe she was going on a date with Aziraphales dad.  
"Is that cause you hate him or you like him?" Was her last reply and for a second he considered telling her all the feelings he'd been struggling with recently towards Aziraphale but then he realised her first date night in years wasn't the time for it.   
He glanced to the other side of the room, Aziraphale must have felt his eyes watching him cause he instantly looked up from his book. Crowley was sure he was going to say something but always seemed to be rendered speechless when Aziraphale stared at him. Aziraphale broke the silence,  
"Isn't it weird?"  
"What?"  
"That your mum and my dad are on a date right now?"  
"Yeah, it really is. I was teasing my mum a bit there but I think I'll stop now."  
"You know what would be really funny?"  
"Huh?"  
"If we went on a date too!"  
"Ngk..."   
"Oh yeah we could go to that lovely little bistro that's just opened up, I bet they have really nice cakes. I'm not doing anything this evening, what do you say?"  
"Nuh, um yeah, sure. Lovely." Aziraphale was already putting on his jacket, this was happening. Crowley decided to go along with it before his brain caught up.

They walked outside into the cold evening and Aziraphale actually linked his arm with Crowleys.

"Oh it's very chilly tonight, don't you think Crowley? At least we don't have far to go." He smiled over at Crowley who still couldn't really understand what was happening. Was this genuine? Aziraphale had never shown any interest towards him apart from friendship. Maybe this was a friend date? A romantic, arms linked friend date. 

The bistro was small, candlelit and busy, they were lucky to get a table. Crowley had never really been to a fancy restaurant and probably would have felt out of place but luckily the atmosphere there was relaxed and friendly. Anyway with the way Aziraphale was looking at him from across the table, with his soft, beautiful eyes, he would have felt comfortable anywhere.

The waiter came to take their drink order, interrupting the slightly awkward silent reading of menus. They ordered food and wine, white for Aziraphale and red for Crowley. Secretly neither of them had really drank much wine but it seemed appropriate for the occasion.

"Isn't this just lovely? I wanted to visit here since I saw it, thank you for coming with me."   
Crowley had gulped down half his glass of wine as soon as it arrived and he was already feeling the warm bravery.   
"Aziraphale, I have to ask. When you asked me here on a date, what did you mean?"  
Aziraphale looked puzzled and slightly red faced, as he had also drank half of his glass, "I meant a date, you know. I've never really been on one before so I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly. Is there a problem?"  
"No, no this is," he wanted to say perfect, "great but I, oh fuck it, Aziraphale I like you. Have done since the first day we met." His heart was racing and face was burning, he had not meant to be this forward. Aziraphale paused,  
"I mean, I like you too. That's why I invited you on this date."  
"Yeah but do you like me in the same way?" Oh no, he sounded desperate now and finishing off the rest of his wine wasn't really helping, he'd never felt so uncool and so desperately in love.  
Aziraphale gently grabbed one of Crowley's hands, brought it up to his lips and kissed it, so softly that Crowley felt he could explode and melt at the same time. Instead his body stayed intact and he stiffened.   
"Yes, my dear, I believe I do."

The rest of the dinner passed in a blur. If afterwards someone had asked Crowley what he ate or drank, he could not tell them. But what he could tell them was everytime he and Aziraphale had held hands or how their feet had touched under the table or how one time Aziraphale had stroked his inner forearm with his finger and Crowley hadn't been able to move for 15 minutes afterwards.

They left the restaurant holding hands and even though the air was now much colder than earlier, neither of them noticed it.

Back at the dorms, they walked into their room and Crowley could barely hear from the heartbeat flooding his ears but he couldn't resist any longer. He took a hold of Aziraphale, gently pushed him against the now closed door and kissed him. A kiss full of longing and desire that Aziraphale matched him with his passion. 

\------------

It was Sunday, the morning after Bee's and Gabriel's date and they were waking up next to each other. It felt nice, Bee felt relaxed with Gabriel and had certainly enjoyed their evening. She was hoping there could be many more.   
Gabriel stirred and immediately checked his phone,   
"Eurgh, I need to phone into work. They apparently haven't got the files I sent them on Friday, do you mind?" He had already started dialing.  
"No, go ahead. That reminds me of my last job."  
Gabriel's was still waiting on his call being answered, "Oh, where did you work?"  
"Hell, don't you remember me telling you last night?" His face looked like someone had shat in his cereal.  
"Hell? Like actual Hell? Why would you do that?" He looked angry, she immediately felt defensive.  
"Well because my parents worked there and I'm a demon. Why is it such a big deal? I told you this last night."  
Gabriel had abandoned his phone call and was now frantically searching for his clothes.  
"I can't remember you telling me this, if I had I certainly wouldn't have been here. I can't believe it, a demon!"  
She was sitting up in bed now, shouting back at him.  
"I can't believe you! The way you talk, like you're so modern and non-judgemental, it's all an act, it's pathetic. Acting like you're some kind of first generation angel or something!"  
"Not first generation but yes, for your information I am an angel. And not one who would normally...fraternise with a demon! Wait, does that mean...your son. Oh no, Aziraphale!"  
The mere mention of Crowley made her leap out of bed and square up to Gabriel, he may have been a whole foot taller than her but she was ready to fight.  
"What, what about Crowley? Do you think he's going to corrupt Aziraphale or something? Aziraphale is more than capable of looking after himself, but of course you wouldn't know being such an absent father." At that he picked up the rest of his belongings and stormed out of her apartment. She picked up the closest thing to throw in anger, it was Gabriel's watch that he'd left on her nightstand so she enjoyed watching it shatter into pieces on her bedroom door.

She needed to call Crowley.


	4. The morning after

"So you're a demon then."  
"And you're an angel."  
Crowley and Aziraphale were spooning precariously on Aziraphale's single bed. There was a moment when they were being intimate where they both lost themselves, Crowley spontaneously produced some hellfire in his hands and Aziraphale had started to glow, literally glow all over. They had snuggled in silence ever since, until Aziraphale spoke.  
"That's pretty cool. I've never met any other angel or demon, well apart from my dad. It's been quite lonely to be honest. So what else can you do?"  
"What like the fire? That was an accident really. I don't actually know what I can do, my mum always told me it was better to repress it, I think she was scared we would get sent back to Hell."  
"Oh they don't really do that, well I don't think they do? My dad used to say we had the right to use our powers, that humans were just jealous. But then he used to tell me that demons were pure evil, no matter how human they may have become. Honestly I think he might be in a cult."  
"You don't believe that, do you?" Crowley felt slightly anxious, being that he was currently the small spoon and potentially in the clutches of someone who thought he was evil.  
"No! Well, maybe at some point. Before I realised my dad doesn't really know shit. Now that I'm here, with my arms around an actual demon, I know that you're probably more angelic than I am!"

They laid in the same position for hours, barely talking, mostly just enjoying being there. Until Aziraphale's arm had grown so numb he couldn't feel it and Crowley's bladder was threatening to explode. Afterwards, they sat on Aziraphales bed and talked, about everything and nothing. Aziraphale opened up more about his father, how distant and stern he'd always been and how it got worse after his mother left.   
"Do you ever see your mum now?" Crowley asked.  
"No, not really. I don't even know where she lives! She tried to contact me through Instagram of all places, making some weak excuse, so I blocked her." Wow, Aziraphale is cold, thought Crowley.   
"Wow, that sucks. I'm sorry your parents are such shitheads." Aziraphale shrugged. "I mean, I don't know my dad but at least my mum is okay."  
"Your mum is precious Crowley, don't ever forget that!"  
"I won't," he replied slightly sheepishly. He checked the time, it was 3am. "Oh, I wonder how their date is going!"  
"Do you think it went as well as ours?" Aziraphale gave a devilish grin so Crowley rugby tackled him to the bed, gently.

Aziraphale woke angrily, he immediately started searching for the shrill noise so he could punch it. Of course it was Crowleys phone on the table next to their beds. On picking up the phone to pass to Crowley, he immediately felt anxiety coursing through him. This was not a happy call.   
"Crowley, your phone." He passed it to him, seeing the name 'Mum' on the screen as he did.

"Hello?" Crowley was barely awake, until he heard the familiar voice.  
"Crowley! Is everything ok?" He sat up, worried.  
"Why, mum what's wrong?"  
"Where are you right now?"  
"I'm in my room. Mum calm down and tell me what's going on, you're scaring me." He felt Aziraphales hand reassuringly being placed on his shoulder, he was grateful for it.  
"Oh, sorry. Sorry. Ok, I think Gabriel's mad, I don't know what he's going to do."  
"Aziraphales dad? What do you mean?" He exchanged glances with Aziraphale, who looked just as worried as he felt.  
"I don't know how to explain, is Aziraphale there right now? Can you put me on speaker?"  
"Sure, here." He put the phone on the side table.  
"Ok. So Gabriel found out...something...about you and me Crowley and he's not taking it too well."  
"It's because we're demons, isn't it! I knew it! Sorry Azi." Aziraphale just shrugged a knowing shrug.  
"How did you…" she gave up on the sentence, sounding exasperated.  
"Its ok mum, Aziraphale knows I'm a demon, we're ok with it. I think?" He posed the question to Aziraphale.  
"Oh yes, hello Bee! I don't care that you're demons, in fact I'm very fond of your son." Crowley decided to just let the bed swallow him up in embarrassment and left Aziraphale to continue the conversation.  
"Well, that's lovely to hear, I'm glad. But your dad…"  
"Please, tell me what happened," Aziraphale asked softly so she started recounting the morning, leaving out the more intimate details.  
"I see." He wasn't shocked, in fact it wasn't the first time something like this has happened. "Well let me assure you that he is not dangerous. He may be a blundering fool but he's not violent. You need to have passion to be violent."  
"Wait!" Crowley poked his head out from under the quilt. "Why were you with Gabriel this morning?" Aziraphale raised his eyebrows at him.  
"Crowley, now is not the time. Aziraphale, what should we do about your dad? Should I come over there?"  
"I don't think…"  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
All heads turned towards to door, even Bee turned her head. Crowley's first reaction was to sink further under his protective layer of quilt but Aziraphale stood up instantly and strode towards the door. He opened it to an untidy looking, flustered Gabriel.  
"Aziraphale! Are you ok?" Gabriel leaned forward and scanned the room behind Aziraphale, Crowley held his breath under the quilt.  
"Yes father, what's wrong? What do you need?"   
"Crowley and Bee, they're...demons." He whispered the word, like a child repeating a swear word they had heard to their parents.   
"Yes, I am aware of this. Now I'm still not sure why you are here." Crowley couldn't believe how brave Aziraphale was. He also couldn't keep still under the quilt. Gabriel noticed the movement and grabbed Aziraphales arm.  
"Come on, we need to get you out of here, maybe we can get you another room. Or another university." He started to tug at Aziraphales arm, Aziraphale pulled his arm away and stepped back into the room.  
"That's not going to happen. Now if you'd like to come in, maybe we can sit down and talk about this like grown ups." He waved his arm into the room, inviting Gabriel in.  
"I'm not going in there, I know he's in there."  
"I'M ALSO HERE TOO!" Bee shouted through the phone, she'd been listening to everything. Gabriel stepped back when he heard her voice.  
"Aziraphale, what is going on? Have they corrupted you? I knew it was a bad idea you coming to university on your own." He looked like he was about to leave.  
"Dad, either come in here right now and talk about this or, or I won't talk to you again."  
Gabriel looked torn and rather tired. It was clear he had never experienced Aziraphale standing up to him like this. His head down, he walked into the room and sat on the wobbly computer chair, as far away from Crowley as possible.  
Aziraphale sat down on his bed and pulled the quilt back from Crowley. "Its ok Crowley, you can come out."  
Crowley slowly pushed his head out from under the cover, ready to death stare Gabriel. But there was no eye contact to be made as Gabriel still had his head held down. Crowley felt braver and sat up. No-one wanted to speak first so they were all surprised when it was Gabriel who broke the silence.  
"So are you two..." he sighed heavily, "...together?"  
They 'ummed' in unison then looked at each other.   
"We're working that out," replied Aziraphale. Crowley nodded in agreement.  
"I don't understand. I thought I'd brought you up correctly, I know I wasn't the best dad but I never thought you'd end up, like this."  
"What does that mean?" Crowley growled at him.  
"See. Quick to anger, reckless. Demons, Aziraphale, they can never change."  
"EXCUSE ME, YOU STARTED IT! I DON'T NORMALLY GET ANGRY UNLESS SOMEONE IS RACIST TO ME OR MY FAMILY!" Bee shouted through the phone.  
"Demons aren't a race…"  
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK. JUST WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR PROBLEM?"  
"I just don't believe that demons are really fit to be around humans and should be kept down in hell where they can be controlled." There was a collective sigh in the room and Crowley could feel his anger rising. Aziraphale could feel it too,  
"Dad. This isn't getting us anywhere. You must realise the way you feel is ridiculous and has no place in our world? You probably interact with demons every day and have no idea. What if someone said the same about us? That all angels should be kept in heaven?"  
"It's not the same, we deserve to be here on earth. Maybe more than humans do. We are innocent and pure!" Crowley snorted, oh how he wanted to tell Gabriel how impure Aziraphale really was but he knew this wasn't his fight to win. He did however take a hold of Aziraphales hand as an act of both reassurance and rebellion.  
"Dad I can't do this anymore. I had to listen and believe in this when I was growing up, but I don't have to do that anymore. You can't control me! Crowley is amazing and beautiful, his mum is a delight. Who knows how many other demons are out there for me to meet. And I'm going to, I'm going to meet them and talk with them and have lunch with them and sleep with them. If you can't accept that, then maybe you need to just leave." Crowley squeezed his hand.  
"But son, there's places we can go. I'll get a job in heaven and we can move there, you don't have to live like this, you're better than this."  
Aziraphale dropped his head, "I said leave."  
"I'm still your dad, you can't change that. You'll regret this Aziraphale."  
Crowley stepped off the bed to face up to Gabriel who was also standing, "You heard him, get out."  
Gabriel turned towards the door. He glanced back at Aziraphale, opened his mouth to say something, closed it and left through the door.  
Crowley turned back to Aziraphale who was quietly sobbing on his bed. He picked up the phone on the side table,  
"Mum? So you heard all that yeah?"  
"Oh I did! And if I ever get my hands on that Gabriel, I'll show him just how scary an angry demon actually is! Are you ok? Is Aziraphale ok?"  
"I'm ok, just angry. Aziraphale is..." he glanced over at Aziraphale who was now lying down, "...I think he'll be ok."  
"Well you go and be with him, give me a call later ok? I love you."  
"I love you too mum."   
He hung up the phone and laid down next to Aziraphale, gently wrapping his arms around him.  
"Are you ok?" He knew it was a stupid question but he wanted to say something.  
"Not really, no. Can we just lie here for a while?"

And so they did.


End file.
